Up All Night
by curlymonic1215
Summary: Just a quick one shot of a scene I had in mind for Jo and Alex following 14x09.


"Up All Night"

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters.

Notes: This is just a quick story of a scene I had in mind for Jo and Alex following last week's episode.

The day had worn her out.

He could tell just from the weary look in her eyes; the tears that were still glistening but refusing to fall. She was exhausted, both mentally and physically, and it was taking everything Alex had to not stop the car and wrap his arms around her and never let her go. Instead he let her have a few moments of silence from the hospital to the loft; opting to continue driving and stealing glances when he could.

Alex let out a soft, audible, sigh as he pulled into their driveway, quickly turning to focus on Jo, the sad features in her face nearly breaking his heart. Her worst nightmare had come true today, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do to make this day any easier on her. He could only imagine how tonight would be for her.

"Hey, princess," he whispered, using the nickname he very rarely used, the one that always brought a smile to her face when he did call her by it. She had been so upset with him that day; the first day they met, when he had so callously misjudged her by giving her that nickname. Now it was used as something much sweeter.

She turned her gaze from the window, offering a forced smile as her hollowed out eyes went right through him. He slowly reached out, stroking her cheek lightly, wanting just to comfort her with the small gesture.

"It's been quite a day. Why don't we head inside?" he asked and she nodded, slowly opening her door and stepping onto the pavement. Alex met her on her side, wrapping an arm around her and smiling when she leaned in, the couple wordlessly heading inside.

"You want me to make dinner? Or maybe just order in?" offered Alex as they stepped into the loft, his eyes watching as Jo immediately reached for the locks on the door.

"I'm not really hungry," she whispered, anxiously checking and rechecking the locks. Alex sighed, wrapping his arms around her slender form.

"He can't get you here. I won't let him," he whispered into her ear and Jo only half nodded, wrapping her arms around herself in a protective gesture.

"I was so stupid. I shouldn't have given her my cell phone number," she whispered more to herself, ducking her head as tears began to fall from her eyes.

"Hey, stop that. You wanted to help her, Jo. This isn't your fault," he whispered, but Jo just shook her head.

"Yes it is. It's always my fault," she muttered, sitting heavily on the edge of the bed, drawing her knees to her chest. Alex frowned at the thought of her despair, opting to lean down in front of her.

"That is not true," he whispered, drawing her hands away from her face, forcing her to look at him. The tears were now falling at full force down her face and the sight just broke his heart. He could only imagine how it had been when she was actually with him if she was beating herself up this much over just seeing him.

"I'm scared, Alex," she whispered, choking on a suppressed sob as she began rocking herself back and forth. Alex nodded, easing himself onto the bed as he pulled his now sobbing girlfriend into his arms, keeping his lips close to her ear, his arms wrapped around her body as she cried.

"He can't get you. You're safe. You're safe, here. I won't ever let him hurt you again. You're safe," he whispered, now cradling her in his arms, rocking her back and forth in a soothing motion while she cried.

He quietly worked on lying her down onto the bed, pulling off her shoes and pulling the covers over her, all the while making sure to never leave her side. He wasn't sure if sleep was what she needed, or something she'd even be able to find comfort in tonight, but he was damn sure going to offer it.

"Just try to sleep, okay? I'm not going to leave you. You're safe," he whispered, lying down next to her, stroking back her hair as her eyes began to close, tears hitting the pillowcase.

"I'm right here. You just sleep," he continued, watching as her breathing slowly began to even out, her body falling into a restless slumber.

 _He was standing in the doorway of the loft, just as he had been standing in the doorway of the residents lounge she and Meredith had been in. He had that smile, the smile that had always told her she was in trouble when she was with him, on, as he edged closer and closer to her._

 _"_ _It's always your fault, Brooke. You always do these things. You get yourself into these situations that you never seem to learn from," he stated as he cornered her._

 _"_ _Someone needs to teach you not to get involved. Someone needs to teach you to mind your own damn business," he said, his hands reaching to grab her by the hair like he had done so many times before…._

 _"_ _No! No, please! Please stop! Help!"_

"Stop! Please, please, no! Please, stop!"

Jo shot up out of bed, screaming loudly, gasping for air as she looked around at her surroundings, eyes darting wildly around the darkened room.

"Jo? Hey, hey, it's okay. It's okay. Shh, it was just a dream. It was just a dream."

Alex. That was Alex. That wasn't Paul's voice. It was Alex.

"Shh, I'm here. I'm right here."

His arms were around her now, pulling her towards him, her breathing still erratic at best as he tried to calm her down.

"It's okay. You're okay. You're okay," he whispered, rubbing circles on her back as she began to cry into his chest.

He continued to hold her in his arms, letting her cry it out from the obvious nightmare she'd had. As helpless as he felt, he continued to hold her, continuing to whisper sweet soothing words of comfort while she cried.

"You want to try and go back to sleep," he whispered as the crying slowly ceased. She shook her head, her head falling heavily onto his chest, her fingers twirling the blanket wrapped around them both.

"You want to talk about it?" he asked, but again she shook her head.

Alex placed a kiss to her hair, shifting them both so that he was leaning against the headboard, Jo cradled in his arms. Alex hoped that she would fall asleep again, but it seemed unlikely. Instead they sat silently, his hand stroking her hair, her arms, her back, anything that would bring her some form of comfort, while she lost herself in the thoughts Alex wished he could ease her mind of.

"I could have just let him leave. I….I should have just let him leave. Why did I have to make it so bad?" she cried, her sobs resuming once more. There was no way either of them were going to get any sleep tonight.

"You tried to help her, Jo. You didn't want her to suffer the way you did. That's not wrong, Jo," said Alex, Jo continuing to cry.

Neither said anything after that, her tears tapering off after another hour or so, her body too exhausted to fight any longer. Her eyes began to drift back to sleep, small whimpers escaping her lips as she thoughts about the horrors of what he could do to her and Alex with the information he now had.

Alex checked the clock as he felt her breathing start to even out; noting that both of them needed to be up in less than an hour's time. Maybe he could call Bailey, but after the whole hacker situation he knew there was no way. They were too backed up today.

So instead he allowed himself to close his own eyes, catching the last few moments of sleep he could; his arm still draped protectively around Jo. She may not have believed that she was safe, but he was going to do everything in his power to show her that he would never lay a hand on her again.


End file.
